beowulf

Beowulf is a heroic poem, the earliest European vernacular epic. It deals with events of the early 500s AD and is believed to have been composed between 700 and 750. It is about a hero called Beowulf.

The poem opens to tell something of Beowulf, a prince of the Geats of southern Sweden.

In the second part the hero goes to Denmark, where a king's mead hall often is ravaged at night by a monster among Danes. The young Beowulf comes to the rescue. He grapples with the monster and its mother too, and kills both. That makes the Danes glad.

In the third part a fire-breathing dragon ravages Beowulf's land. Beowulf kills the dragon but is mortally wounded.

There is no evidence of a historical Beowulf, but some characters, sites, and events in the poem can be historically verified.

The following is the Strafford Riggs translation of 1933. Its language has been slightly modified for this on-line edition.